574 F. A. E. CREW AND HONOR B. FELL 



in a thick capsule of fibrous tissue and muscle-fibres and 

 branches of the femoral artery provide a blood-supply by 

 which the gonad is nourished. No vasa efferentia are present. 



The condition of the seminiferous tubules shows that there 

 had been active spermatogenesis prior to the displacement of 

 the gonad. Many of the tubules are still comparatively normal 

 and are thickly lined with spermatozoa which are arranged 

 with the heads attached to the basement membrane and the 

 tails extending into the lumen (PI. 23, fig. 22). In other tubules, 

 however, we find evidence of degeneration. As in the cases of 

 goat, rabbit, and cat, degeneration takes place from within 

 outwards. The tails lose their outline and fuse to form a 

 lightly-staining granular mass in the centre of the tubule. 

 The heads may remain distinct, but in more advanced stages 

 of degeneration they also tend to coalesce. 



As we have already stated, large ovum-like structures com- 

 pletely filling the lumen are present in some of the tubules 

 (PI. 23, fig. 23). These consist of a deeply-staining peripheral 

 layer which is sharply demarcated from a more lightly-staining 

 somewhat granular central area. So far as we can judge from 

 the limited number of serial sections at our disposal, it seems 

 probable that the bodies are tubular and follow the convolution 

 of the tubule in which they are contained. We are, however, 

 not certain on this point, although it is significant that the 

 bodies almost invariably occur in groups of two or three, as 

 if several convolutions of a single tubule had been sectioned 

 at once. 



We regard these structures not as ovarian in character but 

 as a result of a more advanced stage in the degeneration of the 

 seminiferous tubules. It would appear that they represent an 

 early phase of that colloid degeneration which has been described 

 in the goat, rabbit, and cat. Actual colloid has not yet been 

 formed, but liquefaction has advanced so far that the heads and 

 tails have coalesced into single protoplasmic masses. The dark 

 peripheral layer appears to be formed by the heads, the light 

 central area by the tail, and the seminal fluid occluded in the 

 tubule. 



